How to explain leave of absence for residency application?

[lolathecat]

Hi everyone, I am planning to apply to residency in 2020. I know it's a bit early, but I would like some input on how to explain a leave of absence semester during medical school. The official reason is that I was on medical leave, but I did not disclose any detail about why to my school.

I was in a psychiatric hospital for a month for attempting to commit suicide, which was triggered by 1) my mother forcing me to reconnect with her second husband, who abused me as a child for about 10 years before I left home at 18 for college 2) my fiancee broke off the engagement after he found out about my history of childhood abuse and depression

How should I explain the leave of absence as neutral as possible? I really do not want to disclose what happened to anyone, especially not releasing my medical records, because I am worried it will be labeled as a red flag when I apply to residency.

Thank you

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[operaman]

Hmmmm not an easy one. I think your instincts are right not to disclose all the details here. It’s nobody’s business and it would almost certainly prejudice programs against you. Residency itself can be very stressful, especially certain programs, and they might be understandably concerned about your ability to cope.

I think I would frame it simply that you were sick and extremely fatigued as a result and took the LOA because you realized you wouldn’t be able to perform up to your standards and preferred a semester out to failing a semester and making excuses later. If anyone asks, I’d say you think you had mono. Plausible, capable of causing fatigue that could compromise one’s ability to study, time limited, and with no real stigma around it. I’m not a fan of lying but if someone is tactless enough to pry, I think they’re asking for it in this case.

I would not lie in writing though since this could come back to bite you. Saying you had a prolonged illness that left you extremely fatigued and unable to give your studies proper attention is vague enough.

The flip side to this is that if you run into mental health issues in residency and it impacts your performance, since you haven’t disclosed it your program is under no obligation to make any sort of accommodations for you. You are at very high risk of having additional problems in residency so you would be wise to factor this in when Comparing programs and fields and locations. The residency forums are littered with threads about fired residents with untreated or poorly controlled mental health issues, so be very selective.